Over the years, I've acquired a lot of favorite sayings. One of those favorites is, "Impatience is one of my greatest virtues." Another is, "It takes too long to acquire patience." So, this topic should be easy for me to share some of that patience I have learned, if had learned any.

Asking for a raise is a negotiation, to acquire something you want and deserve. You worked to earn it, you asked for it, and now you must wait for an answer, since the boss has bosses and the answer was, "We'll see." Do you remember when your parents said, "We'll see," which meant "no" in your mind. It's a little different on the job. The boss does have to pass on the recommendation, often, and then wait for someone higher up to approve the raise. Now, comes the difficult part waiting.

You don't know what your boss put you in for or if he/she even did. As time passes, you become anxious, and though you thought the interview went well and were certain immediately following the discussion, that you would get the raise; now self-doubt begins to creep in. You check the company mailbox every day to see if there is a notice of the raise being approved. Two weeks later, you know that you will be fired any day. Here is where my years of experience might be of benefit.

An old axiom is, "Raises never come as quickly as they could or should." A corollary of that should be, "Notices of raises never come as quickly as they could or should." The other option to demonstrating patience, now, is to burst into the boss's office and demand to know if you got the raise or not. Bad idea, trust me.

Part of the problem is that you made a common mistake of new sales people. You thought you had sold the boss on the raise and accepted the weak Yes,' not going for the strong Yes.' The "I'll pass on a recommendation for your raise and we'll see what happens," answer was not the final and strong close of the sale. Had you responded, "Then I should know in a week?" and received an answer of "Yes," that would have been a stronger close. Now, its been two weeks, and you are about to break down into tears.

I suggest you give it another day or two longer than you think you can stand it, and then tell the boss that you just had a long talk with your son who wants to go to college, and based on his/her assurance that there would be a nice raise coming, you told your son that he could apply for college, and thank them for making that possible. The boss looks up from the desk and says, "Your employee records don't show that you have a college age son." Oops!

"But here is your raise notice. I've been meaning to give it to you."

Learn more about this author, Will Kester.
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